The family drama gripping Cablevision turned even nastier yesterday after the patriarch Chuck Dolan took control of the board of directors and gave himself more time to cut a deal to buy the assets of Cablevision’s money-losing satellite venture, Voom.

At the same time, two sources close to the elder Dolan said he is considering taking the drastic step of booting his son, CEO Jimmy Dolan, from the company’s board.

Late Wednesday evening, Dolan – who through ownership of class B super-voting shares controls 75 percent of the vote – announced that he had named four new directors to the company’s board.

The move came in response to the escalating father-son conflict over the future of Voom, which has been Chuck Dolan’s pet project.

“It makes for fascinating theater,” said one cable-industry executive of the board shake-up. “But it’s a big step away from normal corporate governance. I bet the first shareholder lawsuits are being drawn up.”

This weekend Cablevision is holding its annual meeting for its lenders and investment bankers at the Breakers resort in West Palm Beach, Fla., which will be followed by a board meeting on Monday to weigh a new proposal by Chuck Dolan to buy Voom’s assets.

The four new directors are well-respected media executives who observers said are not likely to serve simply as rubber stamps for whatever the elder Dolan wants. The four are former Viacom Chief Frank Biondi; Liberty Media head John Malone; Leonard Tow, CEO of Century Communications Corp.; and Rand Araskog, former head of ITT Corp.

The family feud burst into the public realm in January when Chuck Dolan lost a boardroom battle with his son Jimmy, who convinced a majority of directors to approve shutting down the Voom service.

Later, a deal was announced to sell Voom’s satellite to EchoStar for $200 million, followed by a separate deal to sell the remainder of Voom’s assets to a new company formed by Chuck Dolan.

However, the elder Dolan was unable to consummate a deal by the Feb. 28 deadline, resulting in the company moving to shut the service for good and Chuck Dolan responding by shaking up the board.

Dolan also launched a competing Web site to the company’s own Voom site, notifying customers that it was still accepting new orders. The official Web site, however, notified visitors that the service was being shutdown and that no new orders were being accepted.

The end game at Cablevision is likely to be a breakup of the company, with the company’s cable systems and networks being sold off.

Sources say the company has lately signaled to potential buyers – which include Time Warner and Comcast – that is willing to consider a sale.

The New York City sports and real-estate assets – which include Madison Square Garden, the Knicks, Rangers and Radio City Music Hall – would remain together and be run by Jimmy Dolan.

Last week Cablevision said it would take a $355 million charge to get out of the satellite business. Voom has just 26,000 customers and has burned through about $80 million in cash per quarter.

The company also disclosed yesterday that the SEC has launched an informal probe of trading in the company’s shares during the time that it was making the decision to shut down Voom, a period in which Cablevision stock soared.

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Boardroom brawl

Cablevision Chairman Chuck Dolan staged a palace coup against his son, CEO James Dolan, – booting three board members and deciding to keep Voom, his pet satellite-TV service, operating.